Can You Name 8 Top Hispanic Women In Business?

All very successful, their businesses range from construction to court-related mediation to wholesale foods.

October 29, 2008

I n this country, Hispanic women own 553,618 businesses, employ 320,000 and generated $44.4 billion in sales nationwide in 2004.

Who knew?

Hispanic women own 34.9 percent of all Hispanic owned firms and employ 18.5 percent of the workers in all Hispanic-owned firms and generate 16.3 percent of the sales.

Who knew?

Hispanic women control 39 percent of the 1.4 million companies owned by minority women in the United States, which generate nearly $147 billion in sales. They own every four in ten of the minority women-owned firms. Between 1987 and 1996, companies owned by Hispanic women entrepreneurs grew by 206 percent, compared with 47 percent of all businesses.

Who knew?

These statistics came from the International Hispanic Women Entrepreneurs Association. The associations says that Hispanic women entrepreneurs are "America's best-kept secret."
But not for long. Hispanic women are taking their rightful place in the entrepreneur's corner. They are opening businesses - from restaurants to technology firms to HR shops - and everything in between.

Atlanta is blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit. And, it's catchy. Meet eight Hispanic women who are leading the way and running very successful companies. Through hard work, a bit of luck, networking and smarts, these women are growing their companies and taking a piece of the American dream.

They are no longer a secret. Meet eight leading Hispanic entrepreneurs.

Anna R. Cablik
President/Founder
Anatek Inc.

A native of the Republic of Panama, Anna R. Cablik's business card is quite long. She started and heads three companies: Anasteel & Supply Co., LLC, Anatek Inc. and MassAnna Construction LLC.

Armed with a degree in medical technology from the Canal Zone College, Cablik and her husband came to Atlanta in 1974 and she worked at Piedmont Hospital before getting a job as a clerk in a construction materials company. After seven years, she had risen through the ranks to vice president but she left in 1982 to start her first company, Anatek Inc., a contracting company that specializes in highway bridges. In 2007 it posted revenues of $23.2 million.

After leading Anatek to becoming one of the largest Hispanic-owned firms in the state, she started Anasteel & Supply Co., the only Hispanic/female-owned reinforcing steel fabricator in the Southeast - and who knows - maybe the entire country.

In 2001, she joined forces with Mark Massman to start MassAna Construction, a general contractor specializing in heavy construction.

Despite her busy schedule - plus being the mother of three sons - Cablik is very involved in the community. She is on the board of directors of the Georgia Power Co., and a member of the Georgia Advisory Board of Branch Banking and Trust. In addition, she is on the board of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce as well as the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance.

She also personally believes in helping others. She believes in supporting entrepreneurs, both financially as well as with advice. She has worked with six other Hispanic entrepreneurs to assist them in starting businesses.

Anatek Inc.
770.971.2238

Barbarella Diaz
Manager of corporate accounts and corporate relations
Diaz Foods

Barbarella Diaz serves as manager of corporate accounts and corporate relations for Diaz Foods, one of the country's leading Hispanic food distributors. The company serves retail and foodservice establishments across 26 states.

Her primary focus is handling some of the company's largest clients such as Food Lion and Publix as well as managing corporate donations to various nonprofits and other organizations. In addition, Diaz is also part of The Zaid Group, the management company for Diaz Foods, Diaz Produce, Tortillas de Casa, Edua and International Imports.

Before joining Diaz Foods, Diaz worked for several years in advertising sales at CAMA (now Comcast Spotlight) and focused primarily on the Hispanic market.

She is a graduate of Florida State University, where she received her bachelor's degree in international affairs. She has been involved with several community organizations and currently serves on the board of directors of Diaz Foods, UNICEF and the Latin American Association as well as the advisory board of the Girl Scouts Council of Northwest Georgia. In addition, Diaz, the mother of two children, previously served as a board member and chairman of the board of the Mexican Center of Atlanta.

Diaz Wholesale & Manufacturing Co. Inc.
www.diazfoods.com

Roxana Doritis
President
Tensor Consulting Group, LLC

Roxana Doritis is the president of the Tensor Consulting Group, LLC, a consulting company specializing in facilities engineering and fixed asset management. With new regulations, increased maintenance requirements for aging infrastructure, environmental hazards, and a competitive marketplace, those who acquire, own or manage properties have many significant challenges. TCG has the resources to manage those challenges.

TCG was founded in 2000, combining Doritis' business background and her husband's technical expertise. The company is certified by the City of Atlanta as a minority, female business enterprise.

Doritis came to the United States in 1983 after graduating from the University of Lima, Peru with a degree in business administration. An entrepreneur at heart, she started an export business in Atlanta with a wholly owned distribution channel in Lima, Peru, followed by a tennis bag manufacturing business. She then became aware of the pressing need for quality childcare to serve the needs of working professionals, so she opened a successful daycare in Alpharetta. In recognition of her entrepreneurial leadership and achievements Doritis was elected to the board of directors of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GHCC) in 2006, where she served until this year.

Doritis credits her father with being her mentor in her life, and now she is interested in helping others achieve their own success in business ventures.

Tensor Consulting Group, LLC
770.664.7608

Christina Franco
President/CEO
International Communications Resources, Conflict Resolution

Cristina Franco is a very busy woman. She is president and CEO of International Communications Resources, a business dedicated to bilingual resources in English/Spanish and Spanish/English combinations, including interpretation, translation, cross-cultural and diversity training, and presentations. Her professional qualifications and experience encompass national, international and government relations. She combines the roles of mediator, arbitrator, facilitator and trainer at Conflict Resolution. In addition, she has another business, Partners Investments Inc., a commercial real estate company that develops commercial properties and shopping centers.

International Communications Resources provides a variety of services revolving around translation and interpretation as well as Web services, such as translating blogs.

Franco was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and moved to this country with her family. She attended the Universidad Pontifica Javeriana in Bogotá and then studied marketing at Bernard M. Baruch College of the Community University of New York and also at NYU's graduate school. In addition, she is a Georgia State Registered Mediator and Arbitrator and has mediation certification from the U.S. Department of Defense.

She is the former director of the Commission on Interpreters of the Supreme Court of Georgia, where she recruited and trained more than 700 interpreters in 16 languages to work for the court system. Later as a consultant, she developed the Medical Interpreters Certification Program for the Office of Minority Health for the Georgia Department of Health.

Franco is a member of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Association for Conflict Resolution, where she is chairwoman of the International Section, and is a board member of the Harris County Chamber of Commerce.

International Communications Resources
www.icrcommunications.com

Monica Maldonado
President/CEO
Interprint Communications Inc.

For more than 20 years, Interprint Communications has been offering creativity and marketing strategies to a number of clients, many of which are trying to reach the Hispanic and Latino market. In fact, it has grown from a small print shop on the outskirts of Atlanta to a full-service, one-stop boutique creative and print agencies for Fortune 500 companies nationwide.

In addition to being the company's president and CEO, Maldonado also is responsible for the company's marketing and public relations divisions as well as working to establish new accounts to drive sales growth. Interprint Communications also offers Spanish-to-English and English-to-Spanish text translations.

A native of Colombia, Maldonado came to the United States 27 years ago. She is a member of Colombianitos, a nonprofit organization that provides educational and social service assistance to the youngest victims of the violence that has affected Colombia for more than 40 years. In addition, she is chair-elect for the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a member of the board for the Hispanic American Center for Economic Development.

In 2002, Maldonado was named the Business Woman of the Year by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and in 2003, she received the 2003 Woman Looking Ahead Blueprint, sponsored by the Coca-Cola Co.

Interprint Communications
www.ok2print.com

Lily Zapata Winsaft
CEO/Founder
Aldebaran Associates International

Lily Zapata Winsaft is often referred to as "the recruiter with a heart." As founder/CEO and chief rainmaker of Aldebaran Associates International, Winsaft provides state-of-the-art recruiting and permanent placement of leaders in corporate and nonprofit organizations. The firm offers a portfolio of services that includes executives and senior level managers in positions in the areas of business development, finance and accounting, marketing, advertising and operations, with an emphasis on, but not limited to, positions that require multicultural and bilingual capabilities in the United States and Latin American countries.

A native of Colombia, she was reared in Brooklyn and Miami. She has more than 25 years experience in sales, business development, team-building, staffing, recruiting, territory management, product launch and mentoring. Before opening Aldebaran, Winsaft worked as a senior manager at one of the world's largest staffing firms, where she focused on accounting and finance. In 2001 she resigned her post at Robert Half International to create Aldebaran. The firm's clients tend to be small- to mid-size companies with international and diversity-focused efforts. Many of her candidates have international business experience and are bilingual or multilingual.

Recently the firm's services have expanded to include executive search for the nonprofit arena and searches aimed at placing Hispanics on boards across corporations, institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Winsaft launched and currently serves a the president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Latina Business Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the business and professional development of Latinas through education and mentoring opportunities.

She also is chairwoman of the Companeros Giving campaign for the Latin American Association, an organization that recently honored her fundraising and volunteer efforts. She also joined a mission to Guatemala on behalf of CARE International. She is also active on the advisory boards of the Women's Leadership Exchange Forum at Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business and of Professional Women's Anonymous, a nonprofit organization focused on providing support to individuals faced with harassment at work.

Aldebaran Associates International LLC
www.aldebaranassociates.com

Leticia Maspons Willis
President
Willis Mechanical Inc.

Leticia Maspons Willis was destined to be an entrepreneur. Both her parents and grandparents were entrepreneurs in Juarez, Mexico, where she was born, and she and her siblings helped out in the family businesses.

After her marriage to Grant Willis, she moved to Texas and graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in business and public administration. In 1980, the couple moved to Atlanta, where their two children were born. She first worked with the First National Bank of Atlanta and then as a residential real estate agent for several companies.

But the entrepreneurial urge never left her. When their younger child graduated from high school, she and her husband started Willis Mechanical in 2002. The company provides HVAC systems and process piping in industrial, institutional and commercial projects. Among its clients are The Coca-Cola Co., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the University of Georgia.

Willis is vice chairwoman of the board of directors for the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is on the advisory board of BB&T bank in Gwinnett County.

Willis Mechanical
www.willismech.com

Rocio Del Milagro Woody
Founder/President
The Road to Recovery Inc.

Rocio Del Milagro Woody is a licensed psychotherapist and president of The Road to Recovery Inc., the first minority-owned, fully bilingual and multicultural professional counseling center in Georgia that specializes in forensic psychology and forensic social work.

Founded in 1995, The Road to Recovery is the largest and oldest Hispanic privately owned professional psychological counseling practice in the state. It is the only Hispanic-owned psychological counseling agency in Georgia that has been awarded local, state and federal contracts to provide DUI and Drug Court treatment programs as well as outpatient mental health and psychological counseling for minors who are in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security. The Road to Recovery also has contracts to provide specialized outpatient counseling services for the Department of Justice. Currently, her practice operates five clinics in the state.

A native of Lima, Peru, and a United States citizen since 1987, Woody is a graduate of the international foreign language program at Georgia Tech and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from the University of Georgia. She is pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology from Argosy University in Atlanta. Her primary area of interest is the cultural adaptation, mental health, and well-being of Hispanic immigrant families.

Internationally known as an expert on issues relating to cultural proficiency, substance abuse, family violence, mental health, and matters affecting the immigrant Hispanic community, she is frequently interviewed by the U.S. and international media.

Woody is a founding member of the Georgia Hispanic Network, a past board member of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and is on the board of the Georgia Association for Latino Elected Officials.

She is the founder and president of the Peruvian-American Business Chamber and president emeritus of the Peruvian-American Association of Georgia. She received the 2005 Condor Award for Outstanding Leadership and Community Service from the Peruvian-American Association of Georgia for her work in the opening of a Peruvian consulate in Georgia. Hispanic Magazine named her one of the U.S. Top Latina Entrepreneurs of 2003.

The Road to Recovery Inc.
www.rdtorecovery.com